Stand for paper drinking cups



Sept. 4, 1923. 1.467.082

E. C. BALDWIN STAND FOR PAPER DRINKING CUPS Filed Jan. 18. 1922 FIG-.l.

INVENTEIE a. 6%,; W MQ ATTUHNEYE Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

ST A'S "EDWARD C. BALD'WIN, OF BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS.

STAND FOR PAPER DRINKING CUPS.

Application filed January 18, 1922. Serial No. 530,103.

To all whom it may concern.

Beit known that I, EDWARD C. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new' and useful Improvements in Stands for Paper Drinking Cups, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stands for paper drinking-cups, intended for one use only, the cup being composed of paper and having folded edges'and normally flat sides, adapted to lie close together, so that a plurality of cups may be stored in a. suitable holder from which they are withdrawn for use, and bulged outwardly to contain a charge of liquid. A cup of this general character is shown in my; Patent No. 1,129,778, dated February 23, 1915, Folding drinking cup, although I desire it under stood that the stand hereinafter described, in which my invention is embodied, is not limited to use in connection with the said patented cup, and may be used with any cup having similar characteristics.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved stand of inexpensive construe tion, adapted to support a charged cup in a-substantially upright position on a hori zontal support such as a table, so that the liquid in the cup may be consumed at in tervals, without being necessarily held by the hand of the user, until the charge is consumed.

Other objects are to provide a stand which includes a handle whereby the stand and the cup may be conveniently manipulated, and to enable the stand to automatically bulge the sides of thecup when the latter is engaged with the stand.

The invention is embodied in the improve ments which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, end and side views of a stand embodying the invention, and a charged cup supported thereby.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the stand shown by Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4: is a perspective View, showing a stand embodying the invention, composed of sheet metal.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

A stand embodying the invention conr prises a base, adapted to bear on a horizontal support 12, and a pair of hooked jaws above'the base, formedand arranged to conform to a cup 18, containing a charge of liquid, and support the cup with its center of gravity within the margin of the base. In the preferred embodiment of the in ventionshown by Figures 1, 2 and 3, the stand is composed of wire, and includes a base 15, preferably of oblong form, adapted to support the lower end of the cup 13, a stop 16 projecting upward from one edge of the base, and adapted to bear on the lower portion of one side of the cup, to limit sidewise displacement of the lower. end of the cup in one direction, a standard projecting upward from the opposite side of the base, and provided with hooked jaw-s 18, adapted to engage opposite edges of the cup, and confine the latter against edgewise and side wise displacement in either direction, and with its sides bulged outward. Each jaw, in thisand the other embodiment of the invention hereinafter described, includes an inner portion, formed to bear on one of the bulged sides of the cup, and an outer por tion formed to bear on the opposite bulged side, so that the jaws are adapted to conform to the twobulged sides. The center of gravity of the cup and its contents is within the margin of the base, so that when the stand, supporting a charged cup, is deposited on a. horizontal support, the cup will be maintained in a. liquid-holding position.

The standard is preferably composed of two resilient bowed arms19, connectedwith the base by a rigid neck portion 20. The arms 19 are oppositely bowed and are provided with crossed hooked extensions forming the jaws 18. The jaws are yieldingly supported by the arms in position to automatically exert inward pressure on the oppo- 1 site folded edges of the cup, and thereby bulge the sides of the cup outward. The arrangement is such that when the arms 19 are pressed inward in opposite directions, the jaws are forced outward to permit the insertion of a fiat cup between the jaws. hen the pressure is released the jaws spring inward, and automatically bulge the sides of the cup, so that the latter may be conveniently charged. The arms 19 are preferably provided with looped handle portions 21, to permit convenient manipulation of the stand and the cup, although, as Will hereinafter appear, the standard is preferably spaced from the adjacent side of the cup, so that any portion of the standard may be grasped and utilized as a handle.

The stand may be composed of sheet metal, as shown by Figure 4, in which 15 designates the base, 16 the stop, 19 the standard, and 18 the hooked jaws.

In each of the described embodiments of the invention, the base, the stop, the standard, and the jaws are relatively arranged to support the cup in an inclined position, as shown by Figure 1, the standard being spaced from the adjacent side of the cup, so that any part of it may be conveniently grasped.

It will be seen that the base has unobstructed opposite edge portions, permitting the extremities of the folded lower end of the cup 13 to project in opposite directions from the base, as shown by Figure 2, so that the width of the cup, or the length of its lower end is not limited to the distance between saidunobstructed edge portions.

It will also be seen that the base has intermediate edge portions extending between the .said unobstructed edge portions, and that the standard supporting the jaws rises from one of the intermediate edge portions, and the stop member 16 or 16 rises from the other intermediate edge portion. The engagement of the jaws with the longitudinal edge portions of the cup confines the cup against edgewise movement in either direction, and holds said longitudinal edge portermediate edge portions, a standard rising from one of the intermediate edge portions, a pair of hooked jaws carried by the standard and overhanging the base, and a stop member rising from the other intermediate edge portion, the arrangement being such that the base constitutes a seat for the folded lower end of a normally flat-sided paper cup, and permits the extremities of said lower end to project from the said unobstructed edge portions, the jaws are adapted to confine the cup against edgewise movement in either direction and hold the longitudinal edges of the cup in position to bulge the opposite sides thereof, and the stop mem her is adapted to confine the lower end portion of the cup against sidewise movement in one direction, and to cooperate with the jaws and the base in supporting the cup in an inclined position.

2. A stand for a paper cup having folded edges and normally fiat sides adapted to be bulged, said stand comprising a base adapted to rest on a horizontal support and form a seat for the lower end of the cup, a standard rising from the base, and a pair of hooked jaws carried by the standard and overhang ing the base, said jaws including inner portions formed to bear on one of the bulged sides of the cup, and outer portions formed to bear on the opposite bulged side, the jaws being spaced apart and adapted to engage and confine the folded edges of the cup in position to bulge the sides of the cup outward, the standard including two independ- EDNARD C. BALDWIN. 

